liber

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈlɪ.bɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.ber]^[1]

Forms

liber m (genitive librī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *lufro-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lubʰ-ro- (“leaf, rind”).^[2] Several Indo-European languages have forms in *lubʰ- meaning “bast, leaf”, and the Latin word has been compared with them as if from *lubro-, on the model of the Latin alternation of ⟨u⟩ and ⟨i⟩ in lubet beside libet; de Vaan notes that no Latin form with ⟨u⟩ is attested, but for want of a better explanation he accepts the connection with a PIE or European word for “leaf, rind”.^[2] Cognate with Old Irish luib (“herb”), Albanian labë (“rind, cork”), Lithuanian lubà (“plank, board”), Russian луб (lub, “bast”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs, “leaf, foliage”) and Old English lēaf (English leaf).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it as a book: a character boasts of a whole storeroom full of books.^[3][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4] The original sense, the inner bark of a tree, appears in Cato's advice not to tear off the bark.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the living inner bark of a tree, distinguished by Cicero from the outer cortex, on which writing was once done; from this it came to mean a book, a volume or roll written for publication, and a single volume of a longer work.^[3][5] The plural also named the sacred prophetic books consulted after prodigies, such as the Etruscan books, and the word was used of any long document, especially a ledger or record book.^[3]

In medieval Latin it also meant a charter.^[6] It lives on in Italian libro, Spanish libro, Portuguese livro and French livre, and was borrowed into Old Irish lebor and into Albanian and Basque.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of books.^[3][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of the inner bark of a tree.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero distinguishes the inner bark (liber) from the outer bark (cortex).^[3][4]
• Middle Ages – It is used of a charter.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The inner bark of a tree, bast.^[3][7]
2. A book written for publication, a volume or roll; one book of a longer work.^[3]
3. (plural) Sacred books of prophecy, consulted after prodigies.^[3]
4. Any long document, especially a record book or ledger.^[3]
5. (Medieval Latin) A charter.^[6]

Word family

• librārius
• libellus
• libriger
• quadrilībris

Related words

• English library
• English libel

Usage notes

It is a different word from the adjective Latin līber “free”, with a long ī, which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *h₁leudʰ-ero-, a word for one belonging to the people.^[2] Isidore explains liber as the inner layer of bark that clings to the wood.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).